In XXL’s April 2010 issue, Lloyd Banks filled in the blanks to 20 questions. Question No. 8 was, “ ______ career would have been better off if he didn’t bump heads with G-Unit.” Guess whose career he chose to fill in that blank? He chose “Ja Rule’s.” Now, does the same go from Drake when it comes to bumping heads with Common?

Not yet. But it is a warning that cautions “do no repeat.”

According to hearsay, the cause for the whole battle (this is not beef, there is a difference) between Common and Drake is tennis great Serena Williams. In early 2010, Com and Williams ended their lengthy relationship. What’s more, Drizzy was rumored to be involved with Williams, during late 2011. Drake did not shoot down the gossip like Williams did in August of 2010, when she deemed him as just a “close friend.” In the thank you section for his sophomore album Take Care, Drake added fuel to the fire. “Serena Williams (you have given me a very exciting year and I am so grateful to have you in my life…” Come what may, the origin of the battle is not of great import; the music being produced is and the consequences of the battle might be.

“I’m hearing all of the jokes. I know that they trying push me. I know that showing emotion don’t ever mean I’m a p—-. Know that I don’t make music for n—-s who don’t get p—-. So, those are the ones I count on to diss me or overlook me,” Drizzy voiced on his track “Lord Knows.”

Those bars by the Toronto native seemed enough to ward off other, potential detractors besides the ones who did prior to the release of the record, yet who could have ever predicted Common to be one? And, the hip-hop veteran with nine albums under his belt did not only diss him; he almost finished him.

Common jumped on Rick Ross’s “Stay Schemin” that features Drake voicing several indirect bars that are all but surely about him and: rapped about Drake’s father (“Son of a b—-, I imagine what your father is”), expressed the fact that Drizzy stole Big Sean’s flow (“His style, he don’t own it”), questioned Drake’s true grit which many have reservations about (“Everybody know you sweet, what the problem is… Acting all hard when he hardly like that… You a b—-because you cling like a b—- that’s eighteen”), called him out on the fact that he continues spitting allusive bars (“Can’t say my name but rap about a n—-’s wife”) and even casted aspersions on Drake’s bicultural status (“You so black and white, trying to live a n—-’s life”).

Common did all that in one verse, soon after the original “Stay Schemin” dropped, mentioned Drizzy’s name and pointed out how Drake implied how he was going to confront Com with his crew instead of by himself? Game over? Not quite yet. One has to at least revisit Drake’s verse on the track.

“I just ask them ‘when you see me you speak up n—-,’ that’s all,” rapped Drake on the song, which was dope but also was the lone bar that Drake in which case referred to confronting Com by himself, without his crew.

“Me and my G from DC that’s how I roll around. Might look light, but we heavy though. You think Drake will pull some shit like that? You never know,” Drake also added in his verse.

Was Drake talking about being strapped now? Really? Come on. Not only that, he mentioned the fact he would not be alone, which he did multiple times. Then, he started oddly rapping about Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant’s divorce and strayed from what sounded like confidential matters Serena told him about Com, “Shorty wanna tell me secrets about a rap n—-.”

“I’m just hitting my pinnacle. You and p—- identical. You like the f—ing finish line. We can’t wait to run into you,” OVOXO’s czar rapped.

Again, there is another hot part to Drake’s diss to Common, but, similar to the previous part I referred to as being dope, the Canadian-born rapper loses points because he stated he and his crew “can’t wait to run into” Com, instead of him alone.

Still, back to the lesson Drizzy should have learned from the Ja Rule/G-Unit beef, which is basically to avoid bumping heads with rappers’ disses that digress one from the content that they make and is accepted for. Imagine it was not Common, who is not considered the toughest guy by casual hip-hop fans to say the least. Envision this had been Jadakiss or an up-and-comer with 50 Cent’s aggressiveness and Jay-Z’s elite lyricism. Conjure up Drizzy doing a record like “Clap Back” and changing his whole persona similar to how Ja did.
Next time, it will not be Common. And, no Com is not a punk. In 1990s, he battled Ice Cube before Cube’s family movie days. In the early 2000s, Common slapped a heckling fan during a live performance in South Carolina.

Quite the contrary, Drake last had a rap feud with Kardinal Offishall. Yes, Kardinal Offishall. And, what is Drizzy known for doing live? Saying he loves Rihanna and briefly ranting about how he is not a b—- because he sings. Further, Drake can wear Carhartt and all black as much as he wants to, but now it’s time he responds directly. He got leeway since Common’s “Sweet” was indirect, even though Com stated it was not specifically for Drake and that Drake “embraced” it on his own. But now, Drake replied with “Stay Schemin” and has no choice but to reply or people will forever think he is indeed “sweet.” Still, he should make sure to avoid replying to most disses from here on or his career could end up like Ja’s and people will likely just shake their head and say “look what you’ve done.”

Drake, it’s your turn.

When it comes to all of this hoopla surrounding Jay Z and Kanye West’s new album “Watch the Throne” I’m probably the least excited person in the world. And everybody I tell that too looks at me like I’m buggin. But I have this philosophy that if as an artist you’re not hungry, it’s hard for you to make good music. And I just don’t feel like Jay is hungry anymore and hasn’t been for a while. Kanye on the other hand seems just as hungry now as he was when he first dropped. (which may explain why Ye has been rhyming circles around Jay whenever they’re on the same track) But after watching the behind the scenes footage of Jay and Ye recording the album…in a castle…in Australia…while chillin’ with Russell Crow (yeah, Russell Crow…I felt like Eddie Murphy’s pop in Raw like “what are you doing with Danny Tirreo?”) I REALLY don’t know what to expect from this album. I mean, can you REALLY make a dope hip hop album while in a castle, in Australia while chillin’ with Russell Crow?!?! I don’t think so, but we’re about to find out.

“No Church in the Wild” featuring Frank Ocean FLAT OUT knocks and sets the album off lovely. “Lift Off” featuring Beyonce is dope and I love the break down at the end of the track. I ain’t feeling “N-ggaz In Paris” and “That’s My B-tch” and “Otis” is, well…Otis. The Neptunes produced “Gotta Have It” has Jay and Ye going back and forth on some EPMD ish but just shows me how much their styles don’t match. The Swizz Beat’s produced “Welcome to the Jungle” is a banger and has Jay sounding real focused for once, “My tears is tatted/my rag in my pocket/I’m just looking for love/I know somebody got it/champagne for the pain/weed for the low/ damn I’m so high/where the f-ck did I go?” “Who Gon Stop Me” is legit and “Murder To Excellence” has Ye & Jay speaking on the senseless murders going on in our hoods. But my fave song on the album is easily the RZA produced “New Day” which has Ye going in with an open letter to his unborn son, “And I’ll never let my son have an ego/he’ll be nice to everyone, wherever we go/I mean I might even make him be republican/so everybody know he love white people/and I’ll never let him leave his college girlfriend/amd get caught up with the groupies in the whirlwind/and I’ll never let him hit the telethon/I mean even if people dyin’ and the world ends.”

While listening to “Watch the Throne” it’s like Jay is playing catch up to Kanye the entire album which sounds crazy but it’s the truth. This album sounds like a game of HORSE going on in the backyard and Jay can’t keep up with Ye…at all. It’s to the point I get pissed when Jay comes in to spit cause I’d rather hear more Ye…crazy right? Truth be told, it’s almost like this is Ye’s album featuring Jay Z. I always felt Jay’s downfall is that he plays to the level of the comp that’s around him. When Jay 1st dropped he KNEW he had to come with it cause BIG and Pac were still here, Nas was on fire so it’s no shock to me that “Reasonable Doubt” was the masterpiece it was. But then Big and Pac died, Nas slowed down and Jay became, well…human. And then when Jay and Nas had words, we see the “real” Jay again but once that blew over, I guess we’re back to the “dumbed down” Jay. At the end of the day, I don’t know if you can make dope “hip hop” in a castle in Australia but Ye and Jay do managae to make some good music while chillin’ in the outback with Mr. Crowe. By the way, did we ever find out why Eddie Murphy was hanging out with Danny Terrio?

7 out of 10

If you’re of college age like I am, you have to remember the premere of Adult Swim. Back in the day, Ted Turner’s extension of the children’s network Cartoon Network seemed too radical to survive. Filled with cartoons that sometimes required some, er, herbal encouragement to understand, the network has become one of the most successful on cable, and celebrated its 10 year anniversary at the Roseland Ballroom here in New York City with none other than Jay-Z (who actually raps Asheru’s verse from Boondocks!)

Notable Additions

Black Dynamite. Out of all the networks on television, it seems that only Adult Swim is the only one that provides quality and off-beat programming for African Americans. Of course there is the groundbreaking Boondocks cartoon series, but the channel also featured David Banner’s “The Crook’d Sipp,” and the star-studded Freaknik the musical. So It’s no surprised that they greenlit a cartoon based on the best movie you still need to see, Black Dynamite. Stylistically, it will look similar to their breakout hit The Boondocks and handled by ‘docks director Carl Jones and will feature the voices of film stars Michael Jai White and Tommy Davidson. Let’s also hope that

Another new addition to the lineup is the live action NTSF:SD:SUV, short for “National Terrorism Strike Force: San Diego: Sport Utility Vehicle. Yes, it’s as goofy as it sounds and stars Daily Show correspondent Rob Riggle and Paul Scheer. From the promo I’m on the fence. But it’s currently 11 AM and I’m sober while I’m writing this peice. I can only hope the 15 minute series makes more sense after midnight when it airs.

Notable Returns

Praise the Lord. Two of my favorite shows are returning to Adult Swim this fall. Even though Aqua Teen Hunger Force has gotten rather long in the tooth, the 2011 reboot should make the long running series relevant again. Titled Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1 the new title, settings and locations should bring in some fresh air to the long-running series.

Seth Greens’ Robot Chicken also makes a return for its 6th season. The stop-motion animation series continues its dominance in the ratings (it’s the most watched show on the network) so no major changes are expected for the fall season.

Other returning shows: Metalocalypse, Squidbillies, and Rob Cordry’s Children’s Hospital.

Notable Projects In Development

Music lovers will be pleased to know that there are several interesting series of note in development for the channel. The network previously announced that a Major Lazer cartoon was in development. Stylistically it will include all of the characters introduced in the Hold The Line music video and most likely have the same look and feel.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Other notable projects which got the greenlight include an “Untitled project” with Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All and The Dummiez, a Nick Cannon produced show.

Putting an ‘at ease’ twist to hip hop inspired music may be the new trend to watch in 2011. Our friends DJ 2-Tone and Gerald Watson just released  their jazz infused tribute to Wu Tang – and now I’ve caught on to this Full Crate produced instrumental inspired by “Biggie, Jay-Z or Nas”

This project originally stems from an artist named Brian Elstak who currently has a book out called Mixin Book Vol. 1. Included with the book is an album called Memories of Axel Foley – a 10 track compilation featuring instrumentals songs (from different producers) influenced by the paintings inside of the book. These paintings are also on display at the MC Theater in Amsterdam. Check out Full Crates interpretation below.

Full Crate – Biggie, Jay-Z Or Nas by FullCrate ;

MIXIN BOEK VOL 1 – MAAK DINGEN OR DIE TRYIN’ (TEASER)

Did not see this collabo coming at all.  But it makes perfect since. I’ve been pressed from some new tunes out of Santigold for a minute now. Happy that she didn’t disappoint.

Click here to view the embedded video.

From Jay-Z’s Life and Times:

In this song, “GO” has a dual meaning. On one hand it’s a challenge, beckoning any would-be usurpers to come show and prove. On the other, it’s a call to myself to rise to the occasion. “Go” is a “fun” song. It’s playful, but like many of my songs, lyrically it was an opportunity for me to vent. It’s about the difficulties of holding onto what’s yours, everything from your ideas and energy, to your confidence. As artists, we give so much and make ourselves vulnerable. Sometimes it’s hard to stay grounded. You get so caught up in all that you have to do to constantly deliver, then suddenly you realize you’re so far from where you started that you almost don’t remember the way back. And that’s a dangerous thing, in so many ways. So in this song, I talk about guarding what’s mine. Also, this song comments on the era we live in and the NEW American dream. The dream used to be that if you worked hard, and you were good at what you did, you could pave your own way in America and the sky was the limit. It was based on the idea that there was “opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” However, things have changed. The NEW American Dream is to become rich and famous by happenstance – or sex tapes – and to get there with as little work or talent as possible. And as a result, we are suffering – though many of us don’t know it – as quality becomes a notion of the past. We’re ruining art, our planet, and our health, all due to our newfound obsession with instant gratification, with the short term quick-fix. So, my song’s about all that in a way. I guess I know I work so hard at trying to cultivate my talent. And I get frustrated watching all these people trying to jump on and fake it. Sadly, it works. But not in my song!

 

Jay Electronica – Exhibit C

So the big news of the weekend was the signing of Jay Electronica to Jay Z’s Roc Nation. On Friday night Jay Z hosted an exclusive event at NYC’s The Box titled  “Jay-Z Invites You to an Evening of Magic: Experience The Turn” where everyone from Beyonce to Jay Electronica’s mother were in attendance to help the nicely suited up New Orleans MC celebrate his big move to the Roc.

The news was met with immediate congrats from celebs and fans alike via twitter but it soon became pretty obvious that there was a certain famous ‘uber twitterer’ who was suddenly unusually quiet. This obviously being Puffy aka Mr. Tweet himself. When he finally emerged to comment, the twitterverse was surprised to to see the emotional message he put out that could have been directed at either Jay Z or Jay Electronica:

So why all the dramatics from the mogul? Apparently Puffy had been in talks to sign Jay Electronica to his Bad Boy/Interscope record label for over a year. In Diddy’s mind it was pretty much a done deal so he was completely blindsided at the news of Jay Electronica going to Roc Nation. But what he didn’t know was that Jay Z was also peeping the dope MC and after a chance meeting between the two at Jay Z’s  West Village eatery, The Spotted Pig, it soon became obvious to Electronica that he had a much better chance at success over at The Roc rather than with Bad Boy  - whose roster for the most part seems to be unknown to many. (*cue in Biggie’s ‘soon as he buy that wine I just creep up from behind’ verse from “Big Poppa”)

It was pretty much a no brainer move for Jay Electronica. Puffy undoubtedly is a successful business man but his need to wear many many hats, (one of them being an entertainer himself) has definitely affected his  ability to focus on being the respected label boss he once was in the 90′s and early 2000′s (although ‘respected’ can certainly be debated). Bad Boy is now considered by many to be a graveyard of some sorts; a place  where talented artists go to dig a spot for their final resting place - because the odds of them succeeding with Puff are slim to none. Although Janelle Monáe has respectively given the label a much needed boost. Diddy also wears the hat of artist manager and has seen success with managing Rick Ross but has reportedly just lost Nicki Minaj to music industry vet Benny Medina.

Roc Nation however is slowly becoming the label/entity to watch. Its artist roster so far includes J. Cole, Willow Smith and Jay Z and it also acts as a management company overseeing the careers of artists such as Rihanna, The Ting Tings, Wale and Mark Ronson; producers like No ID and Lab Ox; and  DJ’s like D Nice, Samantha Ronson and Solange. Surely this list is destined to only grow longer in 2011.

Although Jay Electronica is still riding the indie wave and has yet managed to fully crossover, he has shit load of talent and potential to be one of the hottest MC’s out (“Exhibit C” anyone?). He is entering Roc Nation with a very respectable catalogue and if he sticks to his script hopefully he will have no problem reaching the top. And with Jay Z promising that his first official Roc Nation album will drop sometime during  the1st Quarter, it appears that we will not have to wait long to see what’s next. I think Diddy (who I can’t front… I have a serious soft spot for) needs to understand that business is business and it is a known fact that he has pulled many shady moves on many people in his lifetime, so the best thing he can do is get over it and move on.

But what do you guys think? Was Jay Electronica wrong for breaking his verbal deal with Puffy? Should he not have gone with Jay Z? Will this put a permanent dent in Puff’s relationship with Jay Z?  Weigh in and let us know your thoughts.

After conquiring the world of music, fashion, and business, Hova had decided to take on the literary world as well.

Decoded is the first book from the Jigga man, and will delve delve deeper behind 36 of Jay-Z’s most noteworthy songs. The cover, and imprint of Andy Warhol’s Rorschach, coincides with the nature of the decoded theme. In addition to the book, Random House, the publisher, will be releasing an interactive version for the iPad.

Jay-Z on the book:

When I first started working on this book, I told my editor that I wanted it to do three important things. The first was to make the case that hip-hop lyrics—not just my lyrics, but those of every great MC—are poetry if you look at them closely enough. The second was I wanted the book to tell a little bit of the story of my generation, to show the context for the choices we made at a violent and chaotic crossroads in recent history. And the third piece was that I wanted the book to show how hip-hop created a way to take a very specific and powerful experience and turn it into a story that everyone in the world could feel and relate to.

This is a very good look for Mr. Carter. The high art ecstatic tears a page out of Kanye’s handbook, and will most likely end up on my coffee table soon.

Decoded drops on November 16th.

Ski Beats is easily one of my fav producers. This cat had the mid 90′s on lock. His work on Jay Z’s greatest output “Reasonable Doubt” was one of the few times in hip hop history that I preferred another producer’s track over my all time favorite producer DJ Premier. Not to mention he gave one of hip hop’s most unique groups Camp Lo a damn near classic with “Uptown Saturday Night” and not to mention “Luchini aka This Is It” is one of best beats…ever! And all the while still lacing Bahamadia, Lil Kim and Fat Joe (with one of my fav posse cuts “John Blaze”).

But around the time 2000 was rolling around Ski virtually disappeared from the entire hip hop scene. He would pop up from time to time with some jawns for Camp Lo or a track for Jay Z (Ski produced Jay’s “People Talk”) but for the most part, Ski’s been MIA for the past 8 years.

But in 2010 with the help of Dame Dash, Ski is back like he’s avenging his brother’s death. With Dame’s Tribeca loft DD172 (which houses everything from an art gallery to a studio “the Dojo”) as the headquarters for all those who oppose “wack world” Ski’s got the creative control to record at will and with everyone from Mos Def to the Black Keys coming through it was only a matter of time til we got to hear some of the goodies Ski and his crew were cooking up which brings up the release “24 Karate School”.

Originally this was suppose to be released back in March 2010 but due to sampling clearance it got pushed back til September. And the big question is, was it worth the wait? Well, the first thing you’ll notice is the absence of the might Mos Def which means 3 of the strongest songs heads were looking forward to (“Taxi”, “24 Karate School” and “Cream of the Planet”) aren’t on the official release which normally would mean a sinking ship but even though those jawns would’ve made the project stronger, you still get a dope project from Ski and company.

With “24 Hour…” you’re blessed with some big names like Jean Grae, Jay Electronica & Joell Ortiz (“Prowler”), Jim Jones (“Go”) and Camp Lo (“Back Uptown”) but you’re also introduced to some new dope talent like Stalley (“S.T.A.L.L.E.Y.”) and “Rugz D Bueler (“Super Duper Bad”). And in between you’ve got the 2010 blunt brothers Curren$y and Wiz Khalifa (“Nothing But Us” and “Scaling the Building”) and DC’s own Tabi Bonney (“Not Like Me” and “I Got Mines” with Ras Kas & Nikki Wray). At the end of the day “24 Hour Karate School” was mos definitely worth the wait and with the wonderful invention of this ‘lil thing called the internet, I’m sure we’ll all be adding those Mos Def tracks to our own version of “24 Hour…” to help make it one of the stronger releases of 2010. While everyone else is excited that Hovi’s home…I’m more excited that Ski’s home.

“Hat cocked can’t see his eyes, who could it be?”

“With that new blue Yankee on Who but me?”

You guys have probably heard that Jay-Z has collaborated with The World Series Champs on limited edition merchandise to be sold exclusively at Yankee Stadium through September 14^th, 2010.  The limited edition collection (for men and women) of fitted caps, T-shirts, and hoodies commemorate Yankee Stadium’s first official concerts that take place September 13^th and 14^th with Jay-Z and Eminem.  The stop at Yankee Stadium will be the pairs second on their Home and Home tour.  They first hit up Detroit’s Comerica Park last week.  Shout out to Jay’s marketing team! Dope plug for the concert and to make more money!

Dr. Dre Feat Jay-Z – Under Pressure [Tags]
-thecouchsessions]

is the wait over? I’m still not going to say that Dr. Dre’s Detox actually exists until I have a physical copy (yes, physical copy) in my hand, but this track is at least providing evidence that Dre has been in the studio working on something for the past 10 years.

But is this the comeback track that was worth the wait? Hardly. Jay kinda bodies this beat tho.

Since the devastating the earthquake that killed many thousands of Haitians  occurred a couple of weeks ago, the world has appeared to come together (for a quick second at least) and help out those in need.

Musicians on all levels have made their contributions by song and tributes such as Hope for Haiti  a global benefit concert which aired this past weekend have generated  significant amounts of money towards relief. 

Countless of other benefits have occurred as well -some with big name stars such as Bono and Alicia Keys others on a more indie scale with artist such as Selah Sue and Ronnie Mosuse—- Check out  a few of the the higlights below and to donate log on to http://www.hopeforhaiti.com.

Selah Sue & Ronnie Mosuse

Madonna

Stevie Wonder

Jay Z, Rihanna, Bono, The Edge